Characterisation of medicinal herbs used in traditional medicine in South East Asia, and their effects on colorectal cancer

• Main Author: Manoj, Vaishnervi
• Other Authors: Li Hoi Yeung
• Format: Thesis-Master by Research
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Science::Biological sciences::Molecular biology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/169567
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the global prevalence of colorectal cancer expected to rise by 60% by 2030, there is mounting pressure to improve existing therapeutic interventions to curb cancer mortality. Cancer patients are often compelled to look to alternative, often herbal-based remedies to supplement or completely replace their prescribed therapeutic programs due to agonising treatment-related side effects. Decades of traditional medical practices have uncovered a plethora of medicinal herbs with purported anti-cancer properties, but the mechanisms underlying their effects and potential for routine clinical use have been poorly examined. This study focuses on characterising five medicinal herbs used for traditional medicine in SouthEast Asia due to their purported anti-tumorigenic activities. MTT assays found that treatment of DLD-1 colorectal cancer cells with these herbal extracts reduced cell viability. Further analyses found that Herb 3 and its combinations limited DLD-1 clonogenicity, stunted the growth of tumour spheroids, and caused tumour regression in xenograft mouse models. Herb 3 and its combinations also triggered apoptosis in DLD-1, indicated by upregulated caspase activity and a significant accumulation of herb-treated cells in the sub-G 1 stage of the cell cycle. Cell cycle analysis further revealed that these herb treatments had effects on DLD-1 cell cycle progression with possible G2/M arrest, and immunostaining found that a sizeable population of herb-treated cells formed aberrant monopolar spindles at metaphase. These findings collectively suggest that treatment with the herbs tested has potential therapeutic use, but further study is necessary to validate the observed effects and delineate the possible underlying mechanisms involved by isolating the bioactive compounds responsible for their effects.